Growing Local Value: How to Build Business Partnerships That Strengthen Your Community (Social Venture Network) [Paperback]

Laury Hammel (Author), Gun Denhart (Author)

Book Description

Series: Social Venture Network | Publication Date: January 1, 2007

Hanna Andersson founder Gun Denhart and successful entrepreneur Laury Hammel show how every aspect of a business (from product creation to employee recruitment to vendor selection) holds the dual promise of bigger profits and a stronger local community With practical tools and real-life examples of the best practitioners and techniques of values-driven business, Growing Local Value provides a framework for the full spectrum of ways in which a business can contribute to its community, and the benefits a company receives when it does so. Key features Offers tried-and-tested practical advice and a variety of real life examples in a short, convenient format. This cheap, user-friendly guide facilitates immediate real-world implementation In each chapter, the authors walk readers through key best practices and share inspiring stories of how a host of socially responsible entrepreneurs have already made substantial contributions to their community

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

FROM THE BERKELEY DAILY PLANET
"While people often think of community activism in terms of philanthropy or volunteer work, Hammel and Denhart show how every aspect of a business--from product creation to employee recruitment to vendor selection to raising capital--can be set up to benefit both the bottom line and the local community.

Each of the book's seven chapters offers lessons in building a meaningful and profitable relationship with a key stakeholder group: customers, investors, nonprofits, government, other businesses, employees and the environment itself. Those lessons are illustrated by vivid case histories drawn from a wide range of industries located all over the United States. The authors are keenly aware of the challenges facing small and medium-sized independent entrepreneurs; they tell what worked--and what didn't.

For this reader, it's these stories that make this book compelling. A few examples: Rejuvenation Lighting in Portland, Oregon, established a home-buying program for its employees. TAGS Hardware of Cambridge, Massachusetts, mails every new resident in town a coupon offering a free trash can and a duplicate house key and sends out "free light bulb cards" to frequent customers. Hammel's Longfellow Clubs helped an inner-city indoor/outdoor tennis club founded by African Americans to get back on its feet with generous donations of time, money and expertise."

About the Author

Laury Hammel is the owner and president of The Longfellow Clubs, a group of four health and recreation clubs established in 1980. Hammel Later founded founded the New England Business Association for Social Responsibility, the first trade association of socially responsible businesses. Gun Denhart co-founded the Hanna Andersson children's clothing company in 1983. Through her leadership, the company has become known for its high quality clothing made from soft cotton materials, as well as community involvement and family friendly work practices

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers; Annotated edition (January 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1576753719
• ISBN-13: 978-1576753712
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,337,031 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Idea generator!, May 5, 2008

By 

Andre R. Wozniak (Phoenix, AZ) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Growing Local Value: How to Build Business Partnerships That Strengthen Your Community (Social Venture Network) (Paperback)

This book is not a passive read. If your are a local business owner or you're thinking of starting a local business, this book will help you go through the challenging aspects that every business owner should consider. Within the chapters are general ideas of how to best achieve your goals in the different areas of business ownership. Also provided are numerous examples of actual accounts from businesses trying different strategies and how it turned out for them - the good and the bad. I highly suggest this book as it will have you thinking about all the solutions available to helping your business thrive in a very community-friendly kind of way.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Read This Book, February 4, 2007

By 

B. Mire (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Growing Local Value: How to Build Business Partnerships That Strengthen Your Community (Social Venture Network) (Paperback)

An excellent and valuable guide for anyone who wants to start a local business, or for those of us who are looking for ways to bring homegrown businesses back to our neighborhoods. Using examples of successful entrepreneurs, including, thankfully, minority entrepreneurs, Mr. Hammel and Mr. Denhart provide step-by-step instructions on how we can bring back and sustain community enterprises or, at the very least, compete successfully alongside the cookie-cutter companies that are ripping the heart out of our cities and towns.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Local Business is Smart Business, December 7, 2008

By 

Shel Horowitz "Shel Horowitz, author, Guerril... (Hadley, MA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Growing Local Value: How to Build Business Partnerships That Strengthen Your Community (Social Venture Network) (Paperback)

Another wonderful title in Berrett-Koehler's Social Venture Network series, Growing Local Value profiles a number of successful companies who see themselves as partners with their communities--and shows how these businesses can market successfully by distinguishing themselves from faceless corporate competition. Examples: An independent bookseller in Utah who says, "the real pleasure in bookselling comes in pairing the right book with the right person", a San Francisco chain of boutique hotels, restaurants and day spas where each unit provides a completely different experience, and where a "hotel matchmaker" channels guests into the facility that best matches their tastes: concerning itself with "creating wonderful dreams" rather than providing a mere place to sleep, a large bakery that provides jobs to people formerly seen as unemployable (and got the contract to supply Ben & Jerry's, probably as a direct result of this social commitment), and does so in such a way that the company is protected, and the employees can get away from the poverty, prison, and drug problems of their pasts, a garden supply company that helped revitalize the blighted neighborhood it called home.

All of these, and most of the other numerous examples in the book, were good for the community AND highly profitable.

Different chapters look at
* Putting the customer and community first
* Financing without compromising values
* Making employees into partners
* Partnering with other local businesses, government entities, and nonprofits (separate chapters)
* My favorite chapter, on turning sustainable principles into competitive advantages